The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has recorded 14 deaths in 10 states from suspected cases of yellow fever from January to July 2022.
The NCDC made this known via its official website on Sunday.
It listed the affected states as Abia -one, Bayelsa -one,
Benue- one, Imo- one, Kaduna- one, Katsina – two, Kebbi -two, Taraba -two, Yobe
-one and Zamfara -three.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the World
Health Organisation (WHO) described yellow fever as an acute viral haemorrhagic
disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes.
The “yellow” in the name refers to jaundice that affects
some patients.
The symptoms of yellow fever include headache, jaundice,
muscle pain, nausea, vomiting and fatigue.
A small proportion of patients who contract the virus,
however, develop severe symptoms, and approximately half of those die within
seven to 10 days.
The Nigerian public health agency said that cumulatively, a
total of 1,179 suspected cases of yellow fever were reported from 416 local
government areas between January 1 and July 31.
It said that one case each was confirmed in Sokoto, Osun,
Ondo, Anambra and Imo states
The NCDC said that male to female ratio for suspected cases
was 1:1.7 with males recording 637 cases (54 per cent) and females, 542 cases
(46 per cent).
It stated that 74 per cent of cases were aged 30 years and
below.
“One hundred and twenty-six (10.7 per cent) of 1,179 suspected
cases has had at least one dose of the yellow fever vaccine,” it said.
The centre said that it was coordinating response activities
through the National Multi-Agency Yellow Fever Technical Working Group.
NAN reports that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
continues to be felt across several other areas including the increase in the
risk of measles and yellow fever outbreaks due to delayed planned vaccination
campaigns.
Meanwhile, yellow fever is preventable with an extremely
effective vaccine that is safe and affordable.
A single dose of yellow fever vaccine is sufficient to grant
sustained immunity and life-long protection against yellow fever disease.
A booster dose of the vaccine is not needed.
The NCDC revealed efforts to support Nigeria in preventive
mass vaccination campaigns (PMVCs), through its Eliminate Yellow fever
Epidemics (EYE) Strategy.
It said it would be reaching out to states like Ogun, Gombe,
Kano, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Borno and Enugu before the end of 2022.
“Further yellow fever vaccination campaigns are planned in
Nigeria in the states of Ogun and Gombe States in June 2022,” it said.
It added that these campaigns targeted 8.8 million people
for protection, while additional PMVCs will be implemented in the latter part
of 2022 in Kano, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Borno and Enugu states.